Palestine Polytechnic University

Braille To Text/Voice Converter

Project Team

Wisam Younes Bayan Halawani Samer Isieed

Project Supervisor

Dr. Radwan Tahboub

Outline

• Abstract• Project Objectives• About Braille (Briefly)• Conceptual Block Diagram• Braille Paper • Image Processing Technique• Suggested Algorithm For Skewed Image• BT/VC Algorithm• Cell/Dot Recognition• Use Cases • Sequence Diagram • Results• Conclusion • Future Work

Abstract

• The Braille to Text/Voice Converter (BT/VC) is a system that designed to help sighted people to be able to understand Braille script without any knowledge in Braille.

• The aim of this project is to develop a system that is able to translate a Braille script into multilingual script and represents the converted script as text or voice to the user using mobile application.

Project Objectives

• Reduce the gap between blind and sighted people.

• Help teachers to teach blind students.

• Help the parents to keep track of their blind child’s study.

• Design a system that is portable, flexible and easy to use.

About Braille

•Braille is a language that is used to read and write by blind people.

•Founded by “Louis Braille” •Braille cell

•Grade 1

Conceptual Block Diagram

Braille Paper as Image

• Converting image from RGB to Gray scale.• Separate the dots from the background.• Enhance the image using Morphology techniques.

Image Processing Techniques

RGB to Gray Scale Image

RGB Gray Scale

• Done using adaptive thresholding .• Changes the threshold dynamically over the image

Separate the Dots From the Background

Morphology Technique.

•Dilation

•Erosion

After Applying the Morphology Technique

Suggested Algorithm for Skewed Images

•A suggested solution for this problem is to find the sum of rows on a Braille cell, after that the image is rotated with a small angle

BT/VC Algorithm

•CenterX =x+ 0.5*w.•CenterY =y+ 0.5*h.•hw=0.5*w - d.•hh=0.5*h - d.

•Dot1: (centerX-hw,centerY-hh)•Dot2 : (centerX-hw,centerY)•Dot3 : (centerX-hw,centerY+hh)•Dot4: (centerX+hw,centerY-hh)•Dot5: (centerX+hw,centerY)•Dot6: (centerX+hw,centerY+hh)

Left top corner(x,y)

Xd

h

w

11

2

3

4

5

6

1

2

3

4

5

6

11

2

3

4

5

6

11

2

3

4

5

6

Yd

Applying BT/VC Algorithm

Cell/Dot Recognition

After we applied the previous algorithm, we got the following “sample”:

Consider we have these three cells

Export a binary code for each one. Cell 1 : 111010. Cell 2 : 101001. Cell 3 : 010100.

Then using the Hash table we can get the ASCII Code for each of the previous binary code

Use Case Diagram

Run/StopApplication

CaptureBraillePicture

Load BraillePicture

ConvertButton

ReadText

Listen

Camera

Speaker

ConversionProcess<include>

Save AsText

SelectLanguage

Screen

Mobile

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User

UML Diagram

Results

Sample

State

Ideal Image Ordinary Skew Algorithm Scanned Sparse Data

Average)%( 99.6 59.3 66 78.3 94

•According to the three Braille samples that have been tested in different situations using BT/VC algorithm. The following table shows the results that have been recorded during testing stage.

Conclusion

Dealing with images in term of image processing issue it is not an easy task.

Braille image is a sensitive image, which means it should be captured under a suitable situation in order to get a good results.

It is possible to program an application for android using C# instead of JAVA and we decide to use C# because it is faster than JAVA.

Adaptive thresholding technique that has been used to separate the Braille dots from the background is an effective technique and it gives a very good result for more than 90% from the images.

 Morphology techniques can help to enhance the image from a noise.

The captured image always has a skew angle( or the image has a rotated angle in 3rd axis).

Supporting multilingual scripts Improving the suggested algorithm for the skewed image Improving BT/VC algorithm Having more collaborative user interface

Future work